I went to 66 Portland Place for the first time on Tuesday evening. For those non-architecture folk, that’s the HQ of RIBA. And I have quite literally fallen in love with its interiors! I was planning to spend an hour there, which somehow turned into 3. The brilliant high ceilings and carvings throughout the building are. Just. Incredible. Ditto the elongated windows too. Wandering through the six storeys, it seemed that each floor offered a new set of beautifully crafted spaces. I have every intention of returning there every month from now on; their exhibitions programme looks rather impressive! Whilst I was there, I checked out the RIBA Royal Gold Medal Exhibition 2013, which is a prize awarded as recognition of an architect with at least 30 years in practice.  The incredible Peter Zumthor was awarded the Gold Medal, and seriously, after reading up on his design for Therme Vals in Switzerland, who wouldn’t hail the man with an award?!

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An absolute masterpiece, Therme Vals is a spa complex in the Chur region. The building is filled with natural spring water, and seems to be an ideal place for meditative thoughts and a pure week of relaxation. Someone take me there, please.

Equally inspiring, was the AR+D Awards for Emerging Architecture. With over 250 entries from 43 different countries, this exhibition of works is pretty darn cool. Only built work is eligible for submission, and these works are based upon the notion of humanity in architecture. With schools, cemeteries and social housing structures featured heavily in the show, it really evoked how much care we have to put into the design of non-corporate structures. I’ve quite a fondness for the M Building designed by Stéphane Maupin, which gives us an insight into a new social housing project based in the northwest district of Paris. There’s nothing I want more than to move back to continue what was my short-lived period residing in Neuilly, and the M Building is practically just around the corner! Hurrah for affordable (tiny) housing!

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This really is an extraordinary item of beauty, and it seems that every need of the resident has been taken into account. Evidently there is an impending limitation of space considering that it is social housing, but Maupin has created the structure in mind of allowing as much natural light into the apartments as possible. It consists of 2 descending symmetrical terraces which are clad in this Parisian Zinc material, which together forms this sort of contemporary ziggurat (FYI, a ziggurat is a pyramidal structure that hails from the ancient Middle Eastern period). Pretty nice, huh!

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So yes, urges to move to Liverpool have now been replaced with stronger urges to move out of Blighty altogether. Ideally Paris, but I’m not too picky. Perhaps it was the hideous amount of snow, slush and bad karaoke I encountered shortly after my train pulled into Lime Street, but I think I may have previously been seeing Liverpool with rose tinted specs in recent months. It’s still an incredible city, but I guess my urge to move up there is waning a little. For now, anywho.

Still wouldn't say no to my dream Hope Street terrace, though...

I still can’t get enough of The Bluecoat though, which is one of my favourite buildings in Britain. Their William Kentridge retrospective that they had on at the time was absolutely brilliant. Born in Johannesburg in 1955, Kentridge actually studied Politics before moving onto etching later on in his life. After moving to Paris for a year to study mime (!), it actually wasn’t until dOCUMENTA (X) that he became firmly grounded in the international visual arts scene. He used a variety of techniques, particularly the ‘Chine Collé’ that he executed when making his ‘Sleeping on Glass’ series back in 1999. 

Ahh, and I had to post a picture of this new T Shirt I bought from the V&A shop a few days before I went to Liverpool. This was a pretty casual slovenly dressed Sunday, to say the least:

NB: I am not posing, hahah. The sun is in my eyes and my hair keeps falling onto my face at the moment because I'm too lazy to get a haircut.

This is Tomorrow/Whitechapel Gallery T-Shirt: V&A Shop Bag: Urban Outfitters Jeans: Zara Leather Converse: Kurt Geiger

Moving swiftly back down south, I went out for a night out in Fitzrovia for the most recent Haunch of Venison Private View on Eastcastle Street, which was followed by a pretty damn good pizza on this diner by Goodge Street, which I forget the name of.

The Thomas Joshua Cooper Landscapes at Haunch of Venison were pretty impressive, but I didn’t spend too long at that exhibition opening because I really wanted to check out ‘Orange between orange and Orange’, a show by Michael Joaquin Grey at Carroll Fletcher Gallery (which is also on Eastcastle Street). I took Daniel for a wander around the show (he’s pictured here in tweed:)

Before retreating to the bowels of North London (and before Daniel went back to Stoke On Trent), we went to the Wellcome collection, and managed to easily spend an hour or so drinking the delicious chai tea that they sell in their café. Yum.

I wore this new top that I bought in Zara when I was in Liverpool. It was an absolute steal, as I know I’m going to wear it to absolute death. As much as I wanted to buy their leather-sleeved parka jackets that were everywhere last season, I hate buying coats that I know I won’t be wearing year after year. So it seemed much more purse-friendly to try out the pleather-sleeve trend with a t-shirt instead.